December 6, 2011

Love Ya / Mean It Robin

Joy is a wonderful thing. Mostly it is a choice. First to choose to be joyful and second then, maybe, to choose to share it.

It may even be more than choosing, perhaps joy is something one creates. I love joyful creative people. Nobody embodies that more than the woman who coined a phrase I have joyfully cribbed - Love Ya / Mean It.

We are not talking blind love here, Love Ya / Mean It means something far more significant. LY/MI is loving past foibles and idiosyncrasies. Loving not in spite of them. It is more that the things that our loved ones do to make us crazy are the very things that make them the unique individuals we love.

It is a spectacular thing to simply love people for who they are. I try to open my heart that way. For me it is a process that requires a conscious effort. For years I would watch Robin and marvel that she was able to do it with an inborn grace.

I got to know Robin through Disney fan sites on the internet. She wrote loving, hysterical stories of trips to Disney, warts and all. I love those stories and I love Robin.

I made some pins once with LY/MI on them. The plan was to sell them and raise a few bucks to help her have another Disney vacation, so she would write stories and we could all share in the joy laugh. At the time Robin was delivering Pizzas in frozen Maine to make ends meet and maybe save a little for a trip. When I told her the plan she simply said that she wanted them money to go to diabetes care. Delaney had just been diagnosed and she felt that was more important. So Robin.

Robin left this world yesterday. I am confident that she left it a better place for her care, her humor, and her ability to find and share joy. I pray for comfort to all the hearts she touched that will be broken by her passing, her magically blended family, her friends, maybe even the odd grasshopper that terrified her. We are all better for how Robin touched our lives.

If you would like a look into the joy Robin found and shared and maybe get a real feel for LY/MI some of her stories are on BadShoe. (Some of the links out and photos no longer work but Robin's Magic is still just as strong as ever.) In the beginning of one of her 2004 collection of stories she wrote, “Because that is all life really is, a series of great adventures.”

I too didn't have the privilege of knowing Robin while she was here, but I am thankful to now have a chance to relish in some of her writings and feel a snapshot of what she's left. I'm sorry to hear of this, but thank you Bennet for writing and sharing such a great tribute to your friend. LY/MI, my friend.

Beautiful tribute, Bennet. As much as I enjoyed Robin's stories, getting to know her as a person was the real joy. She was a remarkable person, who gave and gave of herself, over and over again, and always sought out the best in others. I miss her terribly.